


The Wheel Of The Year IV: Imbolc

by BradyGirl_12



Series: The Wheel Of The Year [4]
Category: due South
Genre: Established Relationship, Explicit Sexual Content, Holidays, Imbolc, M/M, Male Slash, Pagan Festivals, Paganism, Romance, Series, Series: The Wheel Of The Year, Sex, Sexual Content, Slash, Wicca, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 1999-05-22
Updated: 1999-05-22
Packaged: 2018-11-10 09:56:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11124795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BradyGirl_12/pseuds/BradyGirl_12
Summary: Dragon's Eyes. This story is a sequel toThe Wheel Of The Year III: Yule.





	The Wheel Of The Year IV: Imbolc

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Speranza, the archivist: this story was once archived at [Due South Archive](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Due_South_Archive). To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in June 2017.Original pseudonym: Gilda Lily.
> 
>      This is the fourth in the WHEEL OF THE YEAR  
> series.   
>      Disclaimer: I don't own these characters  
> (more's the pity),  
> Alliance does, but I let them have fun!  
>      **Rated NC-17 for m/m sex (the best kind).**  
>       (c) January 30, 1998

   
     *Ray watched as his lover dug in the ground.  Only Benny could  
make rooting around in dirt look sexy!  He smiled as Benny's obvious  
delight made itself known in the look on his face.  Dief was gamboling  
around somewhere, and he was just content to gaze upon the man that he  
loved. 

      "If we get the right herbs, Ray, we can use them in our Imbolc  
ceremony tonight." 

      "Yes, love." 

      Benny looked up at the amused tone of his partner's voice.  He  
smiled and continued digging, pulling a green thing from the earth.  Ray  
had no idea what it was, but he was sure he was going to get a lecture  
from Benny about it, from its history all the way back to ancient times  
and down through its genus and scientific name, most likely.  Ray smiled  
with affection. 

      "There.  That ought to do it." Benny put the herb into the  
bucket he carried. "We should head back now, Ray, so that we can start  
the ceremony as the moon comes up." 

      "Sure.  Where is Dief?" 

      "He'll come.  Just call him." 

      "How come we're always calling a deaf wolf?" 

      "He just knows, Ray." 

      Rolling his eyes, Ray did as he was bid and Dief came running  
up, wolfie tail wagging.  Ray just shook his head and fell into step  
beside Benny as they headed for the Riv. 

      The ride back was comfortably quiet, and Ray drove into his  
driveway with a smooth motion.  Benny carried the bucket into the house,  
and Dief followed Ray inside.  Ray noticed that the moon was just coming  
up. 

      For some miraculous reason, he and Benny were alone in the  
Vecchio house.  They had big plans for this night, and it didn't all  
include casting circles and chanting.  Ray grinned evilly, watching as  
Benny bent down to deposit the bucket on the kitchen floor. 

    "Benny." 

    "Yes, Ray?" 

    "Let's get started." 

    Benny nodded, and they set up the altar in Ray's bedroom.  It  
consisted of a crystal ball mounted on a pewter dragon base, the  
dragon's ruby eyes glittering in the moonlight, and a red and an orange  
candle in silver candlesticks flanked the ball.  A statue of the Goddess  
was directly behind the ball, and there was a single white rose set in a  
green vase beside her.  A statue of the God flanked her other side, and  
the cloth that covered the altar was a snowy-white.  Benny laid  
some of the greens as an offering and carefully lit the candles.  He  
lifted his wand to cast the circle. 

      The ceremony was simple but heartfelt, thanking the Goddess and  
God for the coming spring, and ended with "This is the time of the feast  
of torches/When every lamp blazes and shines/To welcome the rebirth of  
the God./We celebrate the Goddess,/We celebrate the God;/All the earth  
celebrates/Beneath its mantle of sleep." 

      When the circle was released, they went about the house and lit  
every candle and lamp, as was customary on Imbolc.  The blaze lasted for  
a short time while they ate dairy foods and full-bodied, spicy dishes  
made with curries or peppers or leeks.  Ray eyed the greens from the  
woods with uncertainty, but Benny ate them and despite Ray's  
assertion that "Anything *you* taste, I don't wanna know if I wanna  
try!", he ate them.  They were surprisingly good.  Then they  
extinguished the lights and went upstairs to the bedroom, the  
strawberry/orange scent of the candles still faint upon the air.  Other  
candles were softly lit around the room, the flames flickering off the  
crystal ball on the altar.  The dragon's ruby eyes glittered in the  
light. 

     Benny and Ray stood before the bed, gazing into each other's eyes,  
then Benny removed Ray's robe, the silk whispering on the carpet as it  
fell.  Ray smiled and returned the favor until they both stood nude  
before each other. 

     Benny laid his hands on Ray's shoulders and then leaned forward to  
kiss him.  Ray parted his lips and Benny's tongue slid in, tasting him  
with great zeal.  Ray pressed their bodies closer, their cocks touching.  
Electricity shot through them both as they clung to each other. 

     They swayed and fell to the bed, hands running up and down smooth  
skin as they moved against one another.  Ray grunted as Benny rolled  
over on top of him.  The Italian wound his long legs around Benny's  
sturdier ones and their groins ground together.  Ecstasy swept through  
them both as their bodies moved as one. 

     Ray threw his head back, eager for more contact as Benny rubbed his  
body over him.  Benny nipped his ear, his tongue wet and laviscious as  
it lapped Ray's neck.  Wild with lust, Ray pushed his hips up.  He  
opened his eyes, Benny gasping at the reflected candlelight he saw there  
as Ray growled, "*Fuck me*!"  
   
     Benny lost no time obeying that command.  He shifted around and  
positioned his cock against Ray's ass, easing in while Ray spewed forth  
all the dirty talk he could think of.  Benny grinned and pulled out,  
then rammed home. 

     Ray felt the pulsating organ fill his being, his body achingly  
vulnerable to the man piledriving into him.  He would be sore tomorrow,  
but what a way to get into that condition! 

     Benny towered over him like some sweat-slicked god, and he looked  
positively edible.  He thrust one final time and Ray felt himself burst  
into flower, Benny's semen spilling into his body like melting candle  
wax.  
   
     "Mama mia!" Ray said with heartfelt passion, and Benny laughed.  He  
pulled out of his partner and snuggled up close to him, holding him so  
tightly that Ray nearly gasped for air. 

     "Whoa!" Ray patted Benny's shoulder. "Everything okay?" 

     Benny's face was buried in Ray's shoulder.  Ray grew alarmed as he  
felt his lover tremble. "Benny, what is it?" 

     Benny lifted a tear-streaked face to him. "You trust me so  
completely.  Sometimes I wonder how you can after what I did when...when  
Victoria..." 

     *Uh, oh.* 

     "Benny, listen to me." Ray gripped his arm. "I trust you  
*completely*.  I have no doubts." 

     "After what I did to you?  How can you?" Misery glittered down  
Benny's face. 

     "I can, Benny.  Just believe me." 

     Benny wiped away a tear and Ray was struck at how child-like the  
gesture was, even though what had just transpired was anything but  
child-like.  He stroked a wet cheek. 

     "Ray, I promise you," Benny said with a sudden intensity that  
nearly frightened Ray as the Italian clutched at him, "I will *never*  
betray you again.  I *vow* that I will never do such a thing again." 

     "Benny, I believe you," Ray whispered, stroking a bare shoulder. 

     "Oh, Ray, I never told you *why* I did such a reprehensible thing.  
I...I thought you could never love me after I allowed Victoria to do  
what she did.  I was on the precipice of despair by the time I found her  
at the train station.  In that instant the train was pulling away with  
her on it, all I saw was bleak years stretched out in front of me.  I  
thought you were lost to me.  My regret at what I'd done to her  
overwhelmed me.  I didn't think of what you would be facing if I left in  
that instant.  I was too selfish.  She knew exactly what word to use:  
regret. So I made the split-second decision to join her, knowing that  
she would kill me eventually.  I felt that I deserved it." Benny's  
lashes quivered and Ray clutched him tighter. "In the hospital, I *was*  
angry at you...for not finishing the job!  I wanted to push you away  
from a wretch like me and die in peace. But you stayed, no matter *what*  
I did or said to you." 

     "Oh, Benny." Ray's eyes shimmered with tears. "How could I *not*  
stay?" He wrapped himself completely around his lover. "You are my  
everything.  I couldn't leave you even if I wanted to.  You're too much  
a part of me.  Take you away, and I'd bleed to death from the part of me  
ripped out and gone.  I *need* you, Benny.  Forever." 

     Benny sobbed as he buried his face into Ray's shoulder again.  Ray  
gently stroked the wavy hair and crooned softly to the distraught man in  
his arms.  He glanced up and saw the dragon's ruby eyes wink at him, the  
candles around the room burning down. 

     If the Goddess willed it, their lives would be happy now that old  
wounds had finally bled clean.  Ray held his lover and rocked him to  
sleep.*  
   
   
   
 


End file.
